March 2025
Dear Colleagues,
I look forward to our research community coming together, April 23–27, in beautiful Denver, Colorado, for the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. The theme of the 2025 meeting is “Research, Remedy, and Repair: Toward Just Education Renewal.” This is an incredibly challenging time for education and education research, and the need to remedy and repair deep-rooted problems is acute. AERA, founded in 1916, has witnessed profound social change and challenge before. For example, the annual meetings in 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, and 2020 were cancelled due to World War II and the COVID pandemic. In this moment of uncertainty, our research is as needed and relevant as ever. Also critically necessary is the need to come together as researchers, colleagues, and friends, to share knowledge, to strategize, and to work within and across communities of research, policy, and practice.
With the AERA 2025 program co-chairs, Professors Catherine DiMartino (St. John’s University), Huriya Jabbar (University of Southern California), and Lorena Llosa (New York University), and the AERA Presidential Program Committee we have developed an exciting Presidential Program that reflects the methodological, theoretical, empirical, and analytical diversity of our field, while also taking up salient issues in education across the life span. We issued an open call for sessions that were intergenerational, multimodal, cross-divisional, and that took up this year’s theme. We received 85 proposals and are grateful for the creativity and thought of those who submitted their ideas. We will also be showing 12 documentaries that touch upon the themes in the presidential sessions each day of the Annual Meeting. We thank Professors Jessica Stovall (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Brian Cabral (University of Texas at Austin), Jazmen Moore (Stony Brook University), and Kaleb Germinaro (University of Illinois Chicago) for their coordination and selection of these films. Please check the AERA website for the viewing schedule.
The conference has many exciting components, beginning with the Opening Plenary on Wednesday, April 23. Reflecting the pressing issues confronting education research and higher education, our panel will offer a dynamic conversation. We are honored to welcome Dr. Danielle Holley (President, Mount Holyoke College), Professor Shaun Harper (University of Southern California), Dr. Juan Sánchez Muñoz (Chancellor, University of California, Merced), Dr. OiYan Poon (Consultant on Higher Education Policy to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s Office), and Dr. Sarah Willcox (Deputy Director, Scholars at Risk, New York University). This panel will explore the future of higher education, particularly schools and departments of education, in an era of political polarization when their core functions are increasingly scrutinized and under attack.
My presidential address will be on the afternoon of Friday, April 25, and is titled “Education Research for a Time Such as This.” I hope you will join me in considering the role of our research in the context of our history and in the face of current interlocking social challenges and possibilities. I also invite you to join us for the AERA Distinguished Lecture, which will be delivered on April 24 by Professor and 2019–2020 AERA President Vanessa Siddle Walker (Emory University), and the Wallace Foundation Distinguished Lecture, which will be given on April 26 by Professor William Penuel (University of Colorado, Boulder).
In addition, Professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss (American University) will be delivering a lecture on the causes of violent extremism and effective interventions on April 24. Professor john powell (University of California, Berkeley) will speak on April 26 about how we can engage in work that bridges differences toward a vision of belonging. We hope you will attend the AERA Awards Ceremony, which will return to its luncheon format, on April 24. Congratulations to this year’s distinguished awardees!
At this year’s Annual Meeting, we will also be celebrating the historic tenure and leadership of Dr. Felice J. Levine, who has served as AERA’s executive director for 23 years. As she announced last summer, Felice will be stepping down from her role this summer. We are so grateful to Felice for her incredible leadership of AERA, which has ensured our stability and impact even through challenging times, including the recent COVID pandemic and the current efforts to dismantle research and data infrastructures and curtail academic freedom.
At the closing ceremony, which will take place on April 27, we will pass the gavel to 2025–2026 President Maisha Winn (Stanford University). Finally, as you move about the conference, make sure to introduce yourselves to fellow AERA members, especially those attending for the first time, guests, and the many attendees from the Denver area. Please make sure to acknowledge the brilliant and hardworking AERA staff, who make sure that the conference is enjoyable and accessible. I wish you safe travels and look forward to seeing you in Denver very soon!
Sincerely,
Janelle Scott AERA President, 2024–2025 Professor, University of California, Berkeley